Chapter Text
Chapter One ✦ Timothy
I post myself in front of a tall mirror, tailoring my tie to look decently put together. Running a lightly pressured hand through my heavily gelled hair, I tilt my head to the side - performatively grinning at my own reflection.
"Peacock."
A remark from a face I couldn't quite capture as they passed by. The feminine voice made me instantly nervous - under the impression that every girl here spread the word that "Timothy's a self-loathing peacock!" which is quite frankly not true. I back up from the mirror, following down the stairs with an array of ladies before me. They seemed to be having an interesting conversation because one of the girls who I know is Cressida is practically throwing her voice like a dodgeball around the reverberant main hall. The velvet rug thrown across the flight of stairs is slowly creeping downward, and I assume everyone's already found their place at the meeting board. Melancholically, I let out a sigh at this conclusion - I'll have to sit with someone I have no intention to talk to. Fuck.
Entering the hall, I remove my subtle grimace and supersede it for a smile as I feel eyes on me. There's a few faces I can gather from the inner circle - a prestigious group that I've been a part of. Inner Circle members get to attend these large ball events, and usually it ends up with someone arguing. I am not quite fond of them, but it's been nice seeing Anok there every single time. In fact, I can see her smiling at me right now.
With a returning beam, she mouths something to me that is visibly incoherent. I just keep walking to find my seat along the large table.
There's a seat next to Lorenzo, another member of the Inner Circle. I remain not fond of him, and his business he's always shoving into people's faces. If I sat next to him, I'd have to deal with his black coffee breath being pushed into my nostrils and his wearisome lecture's I've heard 4 times. The other seat is next to an individual I believe is Dafydd. I see him at the train station every time I head off to work. In half a second, I decide he's better to spend tonight's meeting with. Putting the notion into action, I head around to his side of the table and slip into the red velour fabric chair and greet him with a nod of my head.
“Evening.”
Dafydd reciprocated the gesture, the sound of his recognisable voice immediately came back to me. He was the same one from the train station - but I wasn’t going to start awkward conversation about his job. Rather, I look down the horizon of the long table which is centred with lit candles that are depositing hot wax at the base. Multitudes of conversations chorus throughout the towering structured room - making eavesdropping critically impossible. The last person, a mousey-brown haired woman takes her seat next to Lorenzo and proceeds to pays no attention to his immediate ramble.
At the head of the table is someone who I assume is the owner of this establishment, Cosmo. Two women are perched near his sides, like two parrots leisured on the shoulder of a zookeeper. I watch as he picks up a dainty wineglass, the basin full of blood-red wine. Cosmo taps the side of the glass with a metal utensil, and the crowd almost immediately falls silent. As he anticipated everyone by slowly putting the makeshift bell next to the plate set in front of him.
“Evening, everyone.” Cosmo speaks loud enough for the practically deaf to feel like they’re regaining their sense of hearing. “Welcome to the Manor, it is more than a pleasure that all 25 of you could attend - and even more a pleasure to be your host.”
He’s helplessly charming - I can even see Cressida staying quiet and keeping her eyes on Cosmo. Rare. “My chefs have presented..” In my peripherals, I can see Dafydd’s head slowly turning towards mine. I slowly linger my eyes off of Cosmo.
“Timothy,”
Dafydd’s hushed voice maunders to my ears as I cock my head in his direction. Making an expression to non verbally express that I was listening, the eye contact quickly turned embarrassing he trips over his words.
”Uh.. whad’ya know about this here event?” His informalities were sort of lessening the awkwardness. “-I heard there’s a group of killers that snuck in and are planning to assassinate Cosmo..” He continued. Assassinate Cosmo? I could've sworn people liked him to his core. I clear my throat from the wad of perplexity and whisper back to him, "You've gone mad in gossip, Dafydd. Have you been listening to conversations at the table?" He expeditiously shook his head and pressed his lips together, sibilating a, "Stop, stop," and shaking his head. "I'm serious!" Dafydd covers his mouth as a jet black-haired male with curly hair scowls at him. I can see his ears slowly turning pink, the dressing of blush gradually spreading to his cheeks. Stifling a laugh, I decide to cover my face with a glass of brandy that was lodged with thick cubes of ice - the frigid solid pressing against my top lip uncomfortably. My eyes squeeze shut so I don't look at Dafydd, who is currently redder than Cosmos's wine. I can feel Alex's eyes harassing me with a degrading stare through shut eyelids, and it makes me feel like my stomach is hollow. I tune back into the voice, I've officially lost track of what was going on.
"Now, I would like to make a toast to the members of the public who have funded this event, and the Inner Circle members who's earnings have been contributing gradually to the project."
What? A collective of looks from the members of Inner Circle make it clear that nobody - including me - knew that was happening. Maybe Dafydd was right, and Cosmo was secretly a prissy rich boy who was stealing from us all along. Dafydd has finally calmed himself down, and he's running his fingers along the wooden carvings on the side of the table. With the acceptance of our riches contributing to whatever this was, the room falls silent again and I can sense Cosmo glaring around the room through the thick lens of his sunglasses. It feels like the whole room is walking through conversational molasses with the obedient silence across the table.
"I know that's unexpected, but it has worked out indubitably for us all." Cosmo seems to calm the storm. "You're all very valued, thank you for being here. As you can see, there is food all across the table, all there for you to eat. Let the feast, commence." He took his seat, and hands almost instantaneously began reaching for the selections of food set in front of us all.
After the feast, in the lounging area.
Anok drapes her leg over mine, talking busily with Nala and Lola. I use my index and middle fingers to capture the cigarette hanging from my lip, lowering it to the ashtray sat on the small table next to the sofa. The ashtray was choked with ash debris, lipstick stained filters, silver wrappers and even a few bronze pennies that have been uselessly discarded. I left the cigarette there and scooped up my gilt-rimmed tumbler and took a lingering sip of the alcohol that crowded the nooks in-between the large cubes of ice. The bitter complexion in my mouth makes me slightly dissatisfied, but I didn't mind. It was a better contrary to the pieces of steak I had nestled in-between my back molars. I use my free hand to shuffle Anok further into my side, and she drunkenly threw an arm around my shoulders. A smirk pulls at the corners of my lips as I begin to hear the conversation. Eavesdropping.
"I wonder if Cressida has finally shut her mouth and headed to bed." Nala continued nattering about her negativism surrounding Cressida. She was unusually loud this evening, and I supposed she'd had too much to drink like the rest of us. "Gosh, did you see how she was staring at Cosmo, Anok?" She turns her head towards Anok, expecting a supporting reaction from her. Anok initially giggled in response, reaching out to grasp the tie tucked into my blazer. She pulled it out, running her fingers down the fabric before satisfying Nala with a response. "No.. I didn't.. I was too busy looking at the sourpuss look on your face when you noticed! God, you look so silly when you're mad Nala.." Anok giggled, pressing the side of her head to my shoulder blade.
Nala loaded her face with a flower-withering sneer, shooting it into Anok's direction. "Oh fuck off!" Nala hissed. "You're much to talk, you look so stupid right now!" Anok sat up slowly, letting the tie fall to my chest. I began to feel that this would escalate unnecessarily. Anok cleared her throat, and it felt like all of her ditsy-drunk had worn off her immediately. "Nala, will you and Lola go scoot your asses over to that couch? You're being a bother over this corner, why don't you go face Cressida yourself! She's THERE!" Anok fluctuated her volume, gesturing to Cressida who was currently making her way over to the main living area, around the fire pit. In the midst of searching and registering who was sat around the firepit, I notice Dafydd perched against the wall to the hallway.
"Anok, I'm gonna head off for awhile.." I plant a quick peck on her forehead, dismissing the argument before she can even wish me farewell. Hastily, I rove over to Dafydd and stand adjacent to him, shoulder to shoulder. He struggles to pick up that it's me somehow and jolts a little as the touch lands to his nervous system. "Oh, hello Timothy.." He murmurs just below the radar of a normal volume. "Done indulging in Anok's comfort are you playboy?" He teased, knocking the back of his fingers against my shoulder. I widen my idle grin to a beam, relishing in the smell of Dafydd's cologne he's planted all over his body which masks over his usual diesel and sweat smell.